


From Heaven to Hell

by sparklyfaerie, TheRedConverseGirl



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU where Sakura gets the curse mark, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:00:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26025352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklyfaerie/pseuds/sparklyfaerie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedConverseGirl/pseuds/TheRedConverseGirl
Summary: The smallest of errors can weave catastrophic consequences; so when Sakura threw herself in front of Sasuke and received the Curse Seal of Heaven in his stead, she doomed herself. That’s what everyone always said, anyway.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 30
Kudos: 158





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, and welcome to the brainchild of myself and TheRedConverseGirl. I'm handling the writing portion, but she's been such a huge help in story planning and pre-reading that she's just as responsible for this fic as I am.
> 
> Yes, it starts in the Forest of Death. If you're reading Rays of Spring Sunshine, you're probably as sick of it as I am.

"I was right. I want you."

Sakura felt sick at the way the man was looking at Sasuke. She was frozen on her knees, trembling so violently that she felt nauseous. The last time they'd been paralysed like this, Sasuke had managed to drown out the fear with pain. Sakura couldn't even move enough to do that, and with Sasuke exhausted and chakra-depleted, it didn't look like he was about to repeat the feat.

And then he said, "You truly are an Uchiha. Your eyes may be even more exemplary than your brother's."

Sakura had heard whispers of Sasuke's brother over the years—a fearsome traitor to the village that inspired fear into the hearts of even the most elite jōnin. She didn't know what his crime was, but it was bad enough to scare the best of the best.

" _Who the fuck are you_?!" Sasuke roared; the mention of his brother had clearly rattled him. He was glaring furiously at their attacker, sharingan flickering in and out of life in his eyes. His chakra, she realised with a jolt, was _that low_.

Their attacker's voice changed—the soft, husky, almost feminine tones growing darker and more sinister. "My name is Orochimaru." He said silkily, sending a shiver down Sakura's spine. "If you wish to see me again, you must survive these exams and come find me. Of course, that also means getting past my three Oto-nin." He purred.

"Why the heck would we do that?!" She demanded, voice shaky. "After this we never want to see you again!"

"Ah, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that." Orochimaru's eyes flickered to her for the briefest moment. "You see, I'm going to give Sasuke-kun a little parting gift. He _will_ seek me."

Three things happened at once:

The force of the man's killing intent forced Sasuke to his knees, exhaustion finally winning out over adrenaline—Sakura saw him go down from the corner of her eye;

Orochimaru performed some kind of jutsu. His neck darted out like a snake, whipping toward Sasuke almost faster than she could see;

And Sakura moved.

* * *

Sasuke could only stare at the white circle on red fabric in front of him as Sakura let out a bloodcurdling scream, falling back against him heavily. He barely managed to catch her, nearly losing his own balance as her entire body dropped on him like dead weight. Her eyes were closed, long pink hair obscuring most of her face as she cried out in pain. A tear in the fabric of her qipao showed a strange tattoo forming where she had been bitten, at the top of her chest, underneath her collarbone.

There was a soft curse. "Stupid girl." The softness of Orochimaru's voice was completely gone, replaced with naked frustration. "What a waste."

Sakura had begun to tremble in Sasuke's arms. "What did you _do to her_?!"

"It seems your little friend has selfishly taken the gift I intended to give you for herself." Orochimaru mused. "Such a pity that she likely won't survive."

Cold dread pooled in Sasuke's gut. "What do you mean, _won't survive_?!"

Orochimaru was already backing away, melting into the tree behind him. He gave Sasuke the creepiest smile the boy had ever seen. "Such a shame that things didn't go according to plan, but I look forward to seeing how you'll do all the same, Sasuke-kun. Try not to die, won't you?"

"Hey! _Answer me_!" Sasuke roared, still helplessly clutching onto Sakura's form. She had begun to writhe with pain; if he let her go to chase after the man, she would likely fall to her death.

And then he was gone, and Sasuke was left with two unconscious teammates. Naruto was concerning, but Sakura was writhing like a snake, crying out and clutching at his shorts desperately for something to hold on to. For a brief second, the thought that that should have been _him_ crossed his mind before he shoved it away. It wasn't, and now he had to deal with the aftermath.

There was no time to collect stray weapons. With Sakura thrashing around like she was having a seizure, now, whimpering and screwing her eyes shut, it was all he could do to keep her steady. He tried calling out to her, shaking her, and even slapping her across the face in one last desperate attempt to get her to pull herself together—but nothing worked. She didn't respond to _anything_.

And then she gave one last cry and dropped into a dead faint.

Orochimaru's words still echoing in his head, Sasuke's mind blanked for a moment with sheer panic that she'd actually died. It took him longer than he'd later be willing to admit to find her pulse, rapid and thready against quickly warming skin. She was developing a fever, he realised, shifting her into his arms. He looked up at Naruto, hanging from the tree where Sakura pinned him. Maybe he hadn't given Sakura enough credit; that was a tough shot to make on a moving target.

He laid her out on the ground and climbed to retrieve Naruto, bringing him back down to the forest floor and collecting whatever stray shuriken or kunai were in arms' reach. It wasn't even nearly all the weapons they'd used between them, but it was better than nothing, and he wasn't willing to risk it with two unconscious charges.

He rolled Naruto under a thick bush to hide him while he drew Sakura up over his shoulder, casting his eyes around for a direction to go. Deciding that Naruto was well-hidden enough for now, he set out with a lighter-than-he-remembered Sakura to find some kind of shelter to wait until whatever it was Orochimaru had done to them passed.

Because it _would_ pass, if Sasuke had anything to say about it. He'd already lost enough in this life; he was _not_ going to lose these two reckless idiots, too.

He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that said he was just as helpless now as he had been back then.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the positive responses on the prologue! We're both so excited to share this story with you.
> 
> Hang on to your seats. The ride is about to begin.

The tangle of roots that Sasuke had taken shelter in blocked out most of the light. In the shadows, he'd tucked Naruto and Sakura right in the back of the small hollow, placing himself between them and the entrance. He didn't take his eyes off the brush outside for more than a moment at a time.

There was nothing wrong with Naruto as far as he could tell; the boy was simply unconscious, his chakra swirling sluggishly through his system. But Sakura's fever had gotten worse, and she was now murmuring in her sleep. The words were unintelligible, mixed with whimpers of pain, and Sasuke didn't know what to do for her but create makeshift cold compresses with bandages and drinking water. There was a _reason_ she was the one who gave first aid when on their missions.

The mark on her chest seemed to pulse with foreign chakra when he examined it with his sharingan, mixing with her own and turning the normally pleasant green into a sickly swampy colour. While Sasuke's sharingan couldn't see chakra as well as the Hyūga clan's byakugan, he could see enough to know that whatever Orochimaru had done to her was fundamentally altering her body beyond just a simple mark on her chest. He was clueless as to how to stop it, only able to watch as her natural chakra was overwhelmed and saturated by the invading force.

Staying up all night was nothing new to Sasuke. He often had sleepless nights where his nightmares simply refused to leave him be long enough to get any rest. He was exhausted, yes, but he stayed alert until dawn, watching for threats and trying to wake his teammates every so often.

* * *

His first clue that something was wrong was the squirrel.

Small wild creatures did _not_ sprint headlong at humans like that. Eyes narrowing and scenting a trap, Sasuke used one of his precious few kunai to drive the little creature away. His breath caught at the sight of the explosive tag on the creature's back as it retreated, and he narrowed his eyes at the bushes. The sharingan was already swirling to life, draining on his admittedly limited chakra pool. With no sleep, he was recovering from the fight with Orochimaru at a far slower pace than he otherwise might normally have.

This was not good. Someone was watching him.

He found them in the upper branches of the trees just as they leapt to the ground below; three Oto-nin, judging by their hitai-ate, all grinning wickedly at him with narrowed eyes.

_He_ was Orochimaru's original target, he remembered. If he could draw the fight away from Naruto and Sakura, maybe they would be lucky enough to be ignored.

Maybe.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." The creepiest one, the one with bandages all over his face, greeted him.

"You're Orochimaru's men, right?" Sasuke stepped out of the hollow, kunai at the ready. He was gratified to see their eyes widen as he carefully rounded them to put his back to the forest rather than the tree his slumbering teammates were under. "He mentioned something about his lackeys being in the forest."

"Is that so?" The creepy one tilted his head. "Curious."

"Why does he want me?" Sasuke demanded.

" _Want_ you?" The woman sneered. "Want you _dead_ , more like!"

Sasuke slipped into a crouch, drawing a fistful of shuriken in his spare hand. He was low on chakra, so he'd have to rely on weapons and taijutsu to hopefully get through this. "That's not what _he_ said when he tried to bite me."

"He tried to… bite you?" The creepy one tilted his head the other way, now staring at him with confusion. "And he _missed_?"

"My… teammate got in the way." Sasuke admitted. "He bit her instead. What did he do to her?"

As much as he was trying to keep them talking so he could formulate a strategy, this was information that he really did need. Even if he couldn't do anything for Sakura now, the more information he had to give to the medics at the tower, the better.

The second man let out a long, sharp laugh that grated on Sasuke's ears. "Hah! Stupid little bitch didn't know what she was doing!" He grinned at Sasuke. "I hope you said your goodbyes while she was still conscious, kid; not many people survive that shit."

Sasuke grit his teeth, but didn't rise to the bait. Sakura would not die. She _would not_.

"We're wasting time. Can we just kill this little punk and be done with it?" The second man drawled, looking at the creepy one; he was obviously their leader.

The creepy one stepped forward; Sasuke remembered seeing his attack before the first exam. He didn't know how it worked, but he also knew that simply blocking or dodging would be useless. He didn't have time to think any further before the man was racing at him, arm swinging around to strike.

And then there was a flurry of green and orange and Sasuke was staring at yet another back, this one with a shiny bowl cut and, he knew, bushy eyebrows.

"What the fuck?" He breathed.

"What happened to Sakura-san?" Lee demanded of Sasuke, eyes never leaving the Oto trio. "I saw her unconscious under the tree."

"I don't know." Sasuke admitted, shifting around Lee to stand at his side. If he wanted to play the ally, then fine. "They do, though, but they're not telling."

"I see." Lee's round eyes narrowed at the enemy. "Then we shall just have to make them tell us."

"Tch, this village is full of weirdoes." The second man complained. "Hurry up, Dosu. I wanna get this over with."

"Be quiet, Zaku." The creepy one, whose name was apparently Dosu, snapped.

"Be careful, Uchiha Sasuke." Lee murmured, slipping into a fighting stance. "This man has some kind of trick to his attacks."

"I know." Sasuke barely avoided snapping at the other boy. "I saw it, too." Only this time, he would have the sharingan active and hopefully be able to figure the trick out. Knowing, after all, was the first step to countering.

Dosu darted forward, almost faster than Sasuke could see, aiming for Lee. The boy, rather than dodging, plunged his hand into the ground and, to Sasuke's utter astonishment, pulled up a tree root thicker than his own body; Dosu nearly slammed into it, mental gears clearly turning as much as Sasuke's were.

_That was… that was pure strength!_

"We are aware of the peculiar nature of your attacks." Lee announced. "Conventional dodging will not serve us here."

Dosu sneered. "So you think you know how this works, huh?" He chuckled, the sound deep and disturbing. "We'll see about that."

And then he was gone.

Sasuke had half a second to leap out of the way as the man came crashing down where he was standing; he put as much space between the two of them as he could, eyes taking in the manipulation of Dosu's chakra. It seemed to pool in the strange, hollow device at the end of his arm, before emitting in strange waves that focused on where Sasuke had been standing just a moment before. Having seen what it did to Kabuto prior to the exam, Sasuke knew it was pure luck that he'd managed to dodge.

He landed next to Lee. "He uses his chakra to power some kind of attack out of the thing on his arm." He muttered, seeing the other boy nod. "Even if you dodge, if you don't get far enough he'll still hit you."

"So we must either take cover, or put as much distance between us as possible." Lee surmised.

_So,_ Sasuke thought, _this is what it's like to have a competent teammate_. Naruto would not have grasped it nearly as quickly.

"We should split up." Sasuke suggested. "That way if one of us _does_ get hit, we don't take the other down with us."

"Agreed." Lee nodded. "If possible, we should try to destroy the device." Sasuke nodded as Lee dashed away, but privately thought that was easier said than done. The thing looked like it was made of metal; short of denting it, which would require them to get within striking range and therefore put them in danger, there was no way he could think of to damage it.

A flurry of movement to the left warned Sasuke that there was an incoming attack, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge the blast of pressurised air that lifted him off his feet and threw him against the trunk of the tree behind him. The wind was knocked out of his lungs with the force of the impact, forcing him to land heavily on his knees as he choked on air.

"I guess since you boys are busy," the woman's high-pitched voice rang out through the clearing, "I'll just have to entertain myself with the other two back here." Sasuke's head snapped up to see the woman striding toward Naruto and Sakura, several needle-like weapons between her fingers. Senbon, Sasuke knew, weren't particularly deadly; he'd survived being littered with the things in Wave Country. But with two unconscious, immobile targets, it would be a simple matter to plunge a needle through the eye and into the brain.

"Shit." He pushed himself to his feet, still having difficulty with his breathing. He tried to take deep, steadying breaths as he started around Zaku toward the woman.

"I don't think so!" Zaku sneered, sending out another wave of pressurised air. This time, Sasuke managed to brace himself against the wind, but it was enough to prevent him from going to his team's aid.

Lee gave a battle cry from somewhere to the right, sprinting at top speed toward the woman. He blindsided her with a kick to the temple, catching her off-guard and sending her toppling to the ground, unconscious. However, he left himself open to Dosu's attack; he managed to avoid the physical blow, but didn't have enough time to avoid the chakra attack; Sasuke saw his ear start to bleed, and realised that the attack used sound waves.

Lee was done for. He could barely keep upright on his knees, holding his bleeding ear and swaying dangerously off balance. Sasuke was cornered by Zaku and his air attacks, unable to make it to the other boy's side. If Dosu decided to go for Sasuke's team, there was no way he could stop them.

"Really, Lee? We leave you alone for half an hour and you've already gone and gotten into trouble."

Everyone's heads snapped up to look at a boy and girl standing on a branch above them; Lee's team had arrived. The boy, A Hyūga by the look of him, cast his eyes around the Oto-nin with contempt. "Tch. What kind of second-rate nin are you to be going after the weakest in the forest?"

Sasuke bristled at that, but said nothing. At only one-third capacity, Hyūga was not wrong that his team was in dire straits. "Are you gonna get down here and help us, or are you gonna run your mouth all day, Hyūga?" He snapped instead. "Lee's your teammate isn't he?"

"Indeed." Hyūga agreed coolly. "But I don't think our assistance will be necessary."

Sasuke was about to ask what he meant when his eyes caught a disturbance from behind Lee and Dosu. A swirl of swampy green chakra had begun to roll off of Sakura's body in waves as she pushed herself to her feet in the shadows. For an instant, Sasuke felt relief that his teammate was awake. And then she stepped into the morning light, and he got a good look at her face.

Her eyes, normally soft and happy, were hard as nails as she glared around the clearing. She first caught sight of Lee, on his knees and clutching his ear, and then Sasuke, who was doubled over and still fighting to get his breathing under control. Her eyes flickered between the two standing Oto-nin, her mouth setting into a grim line.

But the thing that made his stomach drop was the strange, swirling black pattern that coated her pale skin. As the chakra swirling around her grew, so too did the markings shift to cover more of her body. The palpable fury rolling off her was a foreign concept to Sasuke—her anger was like a flare; quick to spark to life, but just as quick to fade. This wasn't like her.

"Sasuke-kun," she called across the clearing, "are these Orochimaru's men?"

No doubt she'd seen the sound note on their hitai-ate and put two and two together. "Yes."

Dosu was backing up. In all honesty, if Sasuke thought for a second that she would attack him, he would be as well. This presence… something in the back of his mind whispered Orochimaru's name.

"Zaku, we're done here. This is over." Dosu said, his voice perturbed. "Grab Kin and let's go."

"Hah!" Zaku laughed, stalking away from Sasuke and toward Sakura. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the pretty pink Princess." He sneered.

"No, you don't understand—"

"Shut up!" Zaku cut Dosu off, raising his arms for an attack. "I'll kill her and then we can get back to our real mission."

Sakura watched the exchange, baring her teeth.

And then she snapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have the first chapter! Please let us know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here we are with Chapter Two!

Haruno Sakura, Ino knew, was a lot of things. She was a crybaby and a weakling, and smarter than just about anyone other than Shikamaru. She was bad at taijutsu and had absolutely no backbone.

So, to watch her dismantle a grown man in the space of a minute came as something of a shock to the Yamanaka heiress.

"Holy shit," Shikamaru breathed from her side; they were crouched in the bushes, watching Sasuke and Lee take on three Oto-nin before Sakura woke up. "When did she learn to do _that_?!"

"She didn't." Ino murmured. Watching as Sakura buried a kunai through Zaku's hand made her blood run cold. "This isn't Sakura."

"You guys, I've got a bad feeling about this." Chōji whispered. "We should get out of here."

Ino wanted to. She didn't want to sit here and watch Sakura break the man's other arm like it was a twig.

"Chōji's right." Shikamaru began to tug at Ino's elbow. "They don't need help anymore. Let's go before we get caught in the crossfire."

She allowed herself to be pulled away from the battle, her mind racing.

_What the hell had happened to the little bud?_

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Sakura moved even faster than he remembered her to be capable of; she disappeared from in front of Zaku before he could loose his attack, lodging a kunai through the back of his right hand from behind. The man screamed, more in surprise than pain, Sasuke thought, and whirled around to face her, but she was already gone, _kawarimi_ taking the force of the blow he'd aimed at her head with his left hand.

She appeared behind him again, grabbing his left wrist with one hand and bringing her other elbow down _hard_ on his forearm. Sasuke heard the _crack_ of a broken bone and nearly winced in sympathy as she kicked him in the back and sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Let's see you use your arms now." She sneered, aiming a hard kick at Zaku's head. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped into a faint with the force, coupled with the pain in his hand and arm.

Sasuke had never imagined Sakura to be capable of this level of… _brutality_. She was the _soft_ one. The one who blushed when he so much as glanced her way, the one who smiled to cheer everyone up in the direst circumstances. She was the one who cried over her teammates getting hurt, who insisted on nursing them through even the smallest injuries. She was the one who fawned over Sasuke and scolded Naruto like a child, not… not _this_.

She turned her attention from Zaku to Dosu, and began to step forward. But Dosu had already surrendered. The fight was _over_.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called. She ignored him. "Sakura, _stop_!"

She continued to advance.

Sasuke forced himself to move. He crashed into her from behind, looping his arms over hers and holding her back in a restraining bear hug. "Sakura, snap out of it! It's _over_!"

She turned her head to look at him, visible eye cool and hard as glass. He stared her down with the sharingan, ready to move if she made a swipe at him; but the fight drained out of her almost as soon as she met his eye. The black marks across her skin began to recede, and she slumped against him, trembling. "I… I don't…"

"It's over." Sasuke repeated. Sakura's knees gave way and he lowered with her to the ground.

Dosu rolled an _Earth_ scroll toward them. "He's right." He said softly, clearly trying not to startle her back into action. "This changes things. Take this and we'll be out of your way." Sakura took the scroll with trembling hands when it brushed against her thigh. "Sasuke-kun, if we meet again during this exam… we will neither run, nor hide, but for now we need more information. We will leave you be for the duration of the second test if you allow us to leave now."

"Then get lost." Sasuke watched him gather his two unconscious teammates and disappear into the forest. Then, he released Sakura and turned to her. "What the _hell_ was that?"

"I don't know." Sakura clutched the scroll to her chest, tears in her eyes. "I… I was just so _angry_ , and… oh! Rock Lee! What was he doing here?"

"He came to help." Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the other boy. His team had descended and were helping him to his feet. He was still swaying dangerously. Sasuke wondered if whatever Dosu had done to him had caused permanent damage. "You and Naruto would be dead right now without him."

"I know." Sakura whispered. "I heard while I was waking up. I just… couldn't move right away."

She pushed to her feet, taking shaky steps toward Lee and his team. He followed after she handed him the scroll, eyes on the back of her head, slipping it into his pouch. She _seemed_ back to normal, now. They noticed her coming; Hyūga and the girl fell into a defensive stance before Lee. "I just…" Sakura came to a halt a few feet away, bowing low. "I just wanted to say thank you to Lee-san, for helping us."

The others relaxed, stepping away as Lee wobbled forward. He took one of her hands between both of his and smiled. "It was my pleasure, Sakura-san." He said sincerely, with a warm smile. "I already told you once; I will protect you until I die."

Sakura's face flushed. She managed a small smile and straightened, tucking a lock of long pink hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Thank you. I don't know what we would have done without you, today."

Lee's reply was cut off by a loud groan from the tree hollow.

"Tch, of course he wakes up when the fight's already over." Sasuke grumbled, stepping around them and ducking into the shadows.

Naruto was pushing himself into a sitting position. Sasuke noticed the exact moment that awareness came to him; his eyes widened and he looked around frantically. "Where is he? Where's the snake guy?!"

Sasuke rapped his knuckles on the top of Naruto's head. "Wake up, dumbass. He's long gone."

Naruto shook himself and blinked up at Sasuke. "What? What _happened_?"

Sasuke scowled, looking back out to Sakura and the older genin. "Too much to explain right now. We gotta get moving before people come to investigate all the noise."

* * *

Sakura trailed behind the boys as they headed back to collect their weapons from the fight with Orochimaru. When they got there, Sakura pulled Sasuke to the side. "Are we going to tell Naruto about…?" She motioned to her chest with one hand. She'd covered the exposed area of her chest—and therefore the mark—with an adhesive bandage. As far as they knew, Naruto hadn't seen anything.

"It's up to you." Sasuke muttered. "S'not my injury."

"I don't want to." Sakura chewed her bottom lip. "He'll just freak out. You know how he gets."

"Then we won't tell him." Sasuke shrugged. "Now c'mon, the sooner we get this stuff the sooner we can be away from here. I don't wanna be anywhere near where Orochimaru or those guys were in case they come back."

She nodded and began climbing a nearby tree that she saw weapons lodged into. Sasuke disappeared toward another. The next fifteen or so minutes were spent yanking shuriken and kunai out of wood, stowing them in pouches to be sorted later when they found shelter.

Her chest _burned_. She was very careful not to let the boys catch her clutching at it as she kept her back to them, biting down on her bottom lip when the pain swelled; the last thing she wanted to do was continue to be a burden to them. Things were bad enough as it was; Sasuke was injured and Naruto kept claiming he felt weird. She would just keep this to herself and speak to a medic when they got out of the forest. Someone, somewhere, had to know what the weird mark was.

They reconvened on the forest floor. Sasuke and Naruto bickered over which way to go. Sakura sided with Sasuke as usual. Naruto pouted but gave in, and they spent the better part of the day racing through trees to get as far away as possible.

Aside from the burning in her chest, Sakura felt… _good_. She felt stronger than she had before, even. It made her frown. She was certain nothing good could come of the mark on her chest, no matter how strong it seemed to make her; nothing like that ever came without a price.

Because that was the only explanation for what had happened. She had _felt_ it creep over her skin as her anger rose. Seeing Sasuke winded and at a disadvantage against the Oto-nin had both scared and made her angry; she didn't know _what_ that Orochimaru person wanted with Sasuke, but if the mark would have hurt him the way it was hurting her right then, she was determined not to let him get his way. _Nothing_ that would cause Sasuke any pain was any good, as far as Sakura was concerned.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto called back as Sakura began to lag behind.

"I'm fine!" She sped up, ignoring the burning in her chest. Sasuke was already giving her weird, knowing looks. She didn't want Naruto to worry about her, too. "Just a bit tired."

"We should take a break." Sasuke decided, coming to a halt. Naruto stopped a few branches ahead of him, looking back with a frown, eyes darting between them.

"We both got hit pretty bad." Sakura smiled at Naruto. "Nothing to worry about, just some bruises. But it hurts a bit."

"Okay." Naruto nodded, and didn't question them.

* * *

Since he was the one who was conscious, it fell to Sasuke to explain to Naruto what had happened with Orochimaru and the Oto-nin. He left out the bite and mark on Sakura's chest—he simply said that Sakura had taken a hit meant for Sasuke and that Orochimaru had retreated after destroying their scroll. He didn't know if Naruto believed him or not, because he kept looking to Sakura for confirmation.

"I don't remember anything between getting knocked out and waking up during the fight with the Oto-nin." She confirmed to Naruto. It was late afternoon, and the three of them were holed up under a natural rock formation that formed something of a cave. There was no fire, since it would draw attention. Besides, they didn't have anything to cook. Their meals that day consisted of berries that Sakura checked and double-checked against the plants in her scroll on wild edible foods before okaying.

She was acting weird again, wincing when she didn't think they were watching and brushing her hand over the mark. Naruto hadn't noticed yet, but Sasuke had. It was clearly hurting her. Her chakra seemed back to normal, but one examination with the sharingan showed the swampy green flaring up in time with her pain.

"I don't think we're going to get any shelter better than this for the night." Sakura faked a yawn that Sasuke saw right through, but Naruto didn't. "Naruto, do you think you can take first watch?"

He was already nodding, eager to ingratiate himself to the object of his affections. "Of course, Sakura-chan!" He agreed easily. "You guys rest up. Who should I wake for second watch?"

"Me." Sakura rubbed her eyes. "Sasuke-kun was awake all last night. We'll wake you last, okay?" She turned to him.

"Fine." He was already undoing the clips on his pack, ready to settle in for the night. Now that they'd stopped moving, he was bone-weary in a way he hadn't been in a long time. Sleep was just what he needed to be back in fighting shape come morning. "Wake us up if you hear something." He said to Naruto. "Don't try to take it on by yourself and get killed."

"Hey!" Naruto puffed out his cheeks.

"Good night, guys." Sakura punctured the conversation with another fake yawn, effectively ending the argument. Sasuke turned his head to contain a genuine one of his own. "Let's get some rest."

The ground was cold and hard, but Sasuke curled up into a ball next to Sakura and tried to keep his temperature up. He nearly jumped when he felt her back press against his, but conceded that it made sense. It wasn't the first time they'd slept like that on a mission, when the temperatures dropped and they were ill prepared for cooler temperatures. Without blankets, body heat _was_ the best way to keep warm during the night.

When she made no other move toward him, he relaxed and let the heat at his back lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you all next week for another update! We appreciate your feedback.


	4. Chapter Three

They were lucky the next day, stumbling across a group of Suna-nin in the mid-afternoon. Sasuke and his team were alerted to their presence by the sounds of a fight.

Sasuke held out a hand to indicate that the other two should stop. The three of them huddled together, hidden by the leaves of the trees. "Let's watch the fight and pick off the winners while they're tired if they've got a Heaven scroll."

Sakura and Naruto nodded, following him silently toward the scuffle. A team of Ame-nin and Suna-nin were mid-battle; all older than them, but all clearly injured from their fight.

Drowned out by the sounds of the battle below, Naruto whispered, "Hey, shouldn't we, like, actually look for someone who's ready for a fight? These guys don't look too good."

"It doesn't matter." Sakura hissed back. "Do you wanna pass, or do you wanna risk getting jumped by someone else and losing our scroll again?"

"Sakura's right." Sasuke cut off Naruto, who had opened his mouth to argue. "There's no rule against it. We're doing this. As soon as the winners leave, we'll tail them and attack."

Naruto grumbled but acquiesced. Sasuke used the sharingan to examine the battle; any opportunity to copy ninjutsu and get a feel for the enemy was not to be wasted. The fight was clearly in favour of the Suna-nin, whose _doton_ jutsu were stronger than the Ame-nin's _suiton_. Once the Ame-nin were unconscious, the Suna-nin searched them and found a Heaven scroll. Sasuke and the others tensed immediately.

"Damn, another one!" One of them complained. "What do we wanna do with it? Leave it or take it?"

"Take it." One of his teammates replied, going through another one's pack and stealing weapons. "We might be able to trade it for an Earth scroll if we find someone with two."

"Let's follow until they make camp." Sasuke murmured as low as possible when the older nin took off. He, Naruto and Sakura followed above them, silently moving through the trees. One of the advantages of being on home turf was that Konoha-nin were naturally better than the shinobi of most other nations when it came to silently moving through the trees. With Sunagakure being located in a barren desert, their genin rarely had to deal with enemies in the treetops, and so didn't know what to listen for when being followed.

The Suna-nin's camp wasn't too far. They'd clearly based themselves in the spot, near a small pond. Sasuke's sharingan saw several traps in the trees and on the ground. He lead his team in a semicircle around the camp to a spot that wasn't covered.

"Sakura, you're still injured." Sasuke fixed her with a stern look, eyes flickering to the bandage on her chest meaningfully. She nodded, wincing. "Stay here and support us with kunai and shuriken. Naruto, we're going in."

"Right!" Naruto made the hand seal for his _kage bunshin_.

Sasuke lead with a _katon_ , expelling a large fireball toward the three tired men. They yelped and scattered to dodge, Naruto's clones swarming the campsite to keep them apart. Sasuke leapt at the least-injured man, kunai drawn, and slashed at his shoulder coming down. The man blocked with a kunai of his own, but startled when he saw the red of Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke didn't give him a chance to form any hand signs to produce ninjutsu. He disengaged with the kunai and dodged down low to avoid the blade coming for his face. Using his smaller stature to his advantage, he slipped behind the man and kicked at his knees, forcing him down. Naruto's clones were making a racket, brawling with the other two; Sasuke was vaguely aware of Sakura launching shuriken from above when their numbers got a little too thin, giving Naruto time to create more.

Sasuke realised his mistake when the man on his knees in front of him caused a small tremor in the earth with a _doton_ jutsu, unbalancing him and making him fall backwards, cracking his head against a rock. He was saved from a follow-up by Sakura, who had abandoned her post in the trees and was now hanging off the back of the Suna-nin with her bare hands. The black splotches from before were back on her face, eyes wild as she drove a kunai into the man's flailing arm, locking her arms around his neck in a chokehold.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called. "What are you doing down here?!"

"Focus on your own fight, Naruto!" Sasuke roared back. This wasn't good. This was just like the Oto-nin.

She winced and let go of the Suna-nin, falling to the ground with a thud and clutching at her chest, crying out in pain. Sasuke was on the man before he could turn his attention to the girl, pulling out Sakura's kunai and slashing at his back with it. The man roared in pain and tried to backhand Sasuke as he spun around, but the boy was too fast. He applied all his weight behind the weapon, and drove the kunai into the man's gut.

Warm blood spilled over Sasuke's hands as he yanked the knife out. The man staggered backward, tripping over Sakura's prone form and landing on his back, hands pressed over the stab wound. Quickly, Sasuke pulled Sakura to the edge of the campsite, swearing as the marks on her face seemed to recede and crawl forward over and over again.

"Get it together!" He snapped. "Do you wanna get killed?"

Sakura clutched at the ruined section of her dress, face screwed up in pain, but the marks started to recede once again; and this time, they seemed to be staying gone. She climbed to her hands and knees, trembling. "I'm sorry." She panted. "I know you said to stay in the trees, but—"

"Later." Sasuke growled, assessing Naruto's fights. "Stay down." He rushed forward to the one who seemed to be gaining the upper hand against the clones, using his chakra to land both feet on the man's back and stomping down hard. The man buckled under the unexpected force and his face hit the ground. Sasuke jumped off as the clones descended, turning to the third man, but Naruto had already restrained him, using three clones to hold him down.

"Stop." Sakura's voice rang out, shocking everyone.

Sasuke looked over to her, pressing her hands on the wound he'd inflicted on the other man. Blood seeped through her fingers. "What the hell are you doing?" He demanded.

"This man needs medical attention, or he'll die from blood loss." She said firmly, both to him and to the injured man's teammates. "We know you have at least two Heaven scrolls. Give us one and we'll let you go and save your friend's life. You can't pass the exam at all if he dies."

There was a beat of silence. Sakura's words were strong, but Sasuke saw the tremor in her small frame, the uncertainty in her eyes as she stared down two men twice her size. She was bluffing—Sasuke knew the wound wasn't fatal. She wasn't _wrong_ , though; the man's wound _was_ serious.

"Fine." One of the ones Naruto's clones was restraining spoke up. "There's one in my pouch. Take it and leave."

Sakura deflated, her shoulders drooping. Sasuke stalked over and retrieved the scroll. "Naruto, make your clones hold them until we get far enough away."

"One of you, come and put pressure here." Sakura called, addressing the remaining clones. One hurried over and took over, making a face at all the blood. She straightened, looking at Sasuke and casting her eyes around looking for the real Naruto. "Let's go."

"This way." Sasuke took off into the trees. Sakura and the real Naruto followed.

They ran for ten minutes, changing direction every so often, before Sasuke allowed Naruto to release the clones. They stopped for a moment to use their leftover drinking water to wash the blood off their hands; Sasuke hated the feeling of it, wet and sticky after cooling. It made his gut twist and his mind _remember_. When he got out of this damn forest, he would scrub his hands as clean as humanly possible, just to try to get the feeling off his skin.

Sakura didn't look much better; pale and shaking, she cleaned her hands while sniffling. It wasn't her first time seeing a serious injury—she'd seen a man _die_ before, on the mission to Wave—but the feeling of blood on her hands was new to her, he guessed.

Oblivious to his teammates' distress, Naruto was jubilant. "Alright! We got both scrolls!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sasuke hissed, slapping a wet hand over Naruto's mouth. "We're not safe until we get to the tower!"

"Right!" Naruto lowered his voice, but he didn't look any less enthusiastic. "So what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Wait!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm, clutching at her chest with her other hand. "I… I need a few minutes."

"Are you hurt, Sakura-chan?!"

"Yeah, from when that guy fell on me." She lied. "I just need a sec."

"It's getting late." Sasuke observed. "Let's find somewhere to set up camp for now and get some rest, then we can move before sunrise when most people will be asleep."

* * *

They arrived at the tower in the early morning hours of the fourth day, tired but successful. Iruka was summoned and greeted them when they flung the open scrolls away, congratulating them and giving them a lecture on what it meant to be a chūnin.

"Head on inside and rest up." Iruka stepped aside and motioned to the door. "There's another day and a half before the second exam ends, so you'll have to stay in the tower until then. You can get your wounds treated upstairs."

"Thanks, Sensei!" Naruto walked backwards toward the door, grinning.

"Welcome back, you three."

Kakashi was leaning on the wall outside the room, single eye crinkled in a smile. "You did well. There's only four teams in front of you."

Sasuke smirked as Naruto grinned. "That's cause we're awesome, Kakashi-sensei! Even if Sasuke likes to play dirty."

Sasuke scowled at Naruto. "There were no rules against it." He reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto shrugged. "I can't wait to get outta here! I want ramen!"

"There's a mess hall down the corridor." Kakashi nodded to the left. "Why don't you go get something to eat while I take Sasuke and Sakura to the infirmary, Naruto?"

"Yes!" Naruto cheered, already heading down the corridor. "I'm _so_ hungry!"

The three of them watched him until he disappeared through the door at the end of the hall. Then, Kakashi turned to the two of them. "I need to speak to the two of you. Follow me."

Sakura clutched at her mark as they fell into step behind their teacher. He led them up four flights of stairs, past the infirmary, past the sleeping quarters, into a small room at the very top of the tower. He pushed open the door and nodded them forward, coming in behind them and closing it behind.

"Ah, Sasuke and Sakura, is it?"

The Hokage was there, smoking his pipe and looking over them warily. "I'm told you had quite the… encounter in the forest."

"I wish to apologise again, Hokage-sama." Anko bowed low. "I allowed this to happen on my watch. I should have noticed he was here."

"It's not your fault, Anko." The Hokage waved her off. "Orochimaru would have found a way, regardless of who was in charge. I would know; I taught him myself." Sasuke and Sakura both stiffened at the name.

"Hokage-sama, about the curse mark…" Kakashi reminded him from behind the two genin.

"Of course." The Hokage's eyes rested on Sakura, compassion in his gaze. "I've been informed that you have been marked by the Curse Seal of Heaven, however unintentionally. May we see it?"

"Uh," Sakura stammered. "It's… here." She peeled the bandage off, exposing the dark black tattoo for the adults' perusal. Her face was flushed with colour at the scrutiny. "What… is it?" She asked in a small voice.

"Basically?" Anko answered, mouth twisted into a grimace. "It allows Orochimaru to exert influence over the victim. It amplifies the victim's chakra consumption and replaces it with his, slowly corroding the mind of the person." She placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "You're very lucky to be alive, Haruno. Only one in ten victims survive the marking process. I have one myself," she pulled her collar aside to show a faded version of the same mark on the back of her neck, "but I was the only known survivor of this particular curse before you."

"He wasn't after her." Sasuke blurted, making all eyes turn to him. He scowled at Sakura. "You should have let him get me, instead."

"I didn't know what he was going to do!" Sakura protested. "And besides, if he'd gotten you, you might have died!"

Sasuke didn't have anything to say to that. Kakashi stepped forward. "That's enough, you two. There's no point in arguing about ' _what-if_ 's. What matters now is dealing with it."

"Dealing with it?" Sakura repeated faintly.

"I'm going to have to use a _fūinjustu_ to seal the mark." Kakashi explained gently. "It'll keep it from taking you over every time you use chakra, but it'll depend on your own will to work, alright? You have to be _determined_ not to rely on the curse's power."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, Sensei."

"It's entirely possible not to use it." Anko promised. "I haven't had to rely on the seal since before I was rescued by Konoha. You're going to be fine." Sakura nodded shakily.

"You can take her and take care of that, Kakashi." The Hokage nodded. "Anko and I will interview young Sasuke about their encounter with Orochimaru and its aftermath."

"Very well, Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed. "Sakura, come with me."

Sakura bowed to the Hokage and scurried after Kakashi, looking back once at Sasuke. His attention was fixed firmly on the Hokage.

"Now, Sasuke, tell us what you remember." The Hokage began. "Start at the beginning and leave nothing out, no matter how insignificant."


	5. Chapter Four

Kakashi knelt behind a shivering Sakura, tracing symbols made of blood onto her skin with his fingertips. He was at her back for now, but he would soon need to move to the front to complete the seal. The poor girl was sitting on her knees in a sealing circle, clad only in a pair of underwear and utterly miserable. Kakashi, for his part, was detached and professional about the procedure. If time hadn't been of the essence, they might have found a woman with enough skill at _fūinjustu_ to do this for her. But cursed seals were tricky business, and it was better not to leave it any longer than necessary.

"I know this is embarrassing, Sakura." He said gently as he came around to her front, beginning to draw the symbols on her chest. "But it's necessary."

"I know." She squeaked, face very red. "I-it's not like there was time to find anyone else, right? That's what you said."

He nodded, eyes only on where he needed to write. "If you'd prefer, I can seal the memory of this, after. There are jutsu that can do that, if you'd rather avoid the embarrassing memory."

She shook her head. The loose bun she'd piled her hair in wobbled dangerously on top of her head. "I think it would be worse not to remember." She closed her eyes. "Just, please, let's get this over with."

"Just a few more minutes." He promised, bloody fingertip tracing characters onto her stomach. "You'll be heading straight to the hospital after this. I'm afraid your exam may end here."

"That's okay." She whispered, looking anywhere but at him. "I figure it's not important, compared to this."

"Smart girl." Kakashi met her gaze briefly, eye crinkling in a smile. "I'll let the boys know where you've gone when I see them next."

"It won't disqualify them, will it?" She asked, biting her lip. "You need a three-man team to participate."

Kakashi shook his head, moving to write another branch of the seal. This was the dreaded line that crossed her chest, and he felt her stiffen. "No, you've completed the team portions of the exam. The third one is always a tournament of one on one matches."

Sakura sighed in relief—whether it was at the news, or the fact that Kakashi had finished drawing the seal, he wasn't sure. He placed his hand over the mark. "This may hurt."

"That's okay." Sakura screwed her eyes shut. "Just do it."

She screamed as he applied the seal, pitching forward when the jutsu was done. Kakashi caught her against his chest, wrapping a nearby blanket around her form.

"Interesting."

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the soft voice behind him. Gently lowering Sakura to the floor, he stood to his full height and spun around. Orochimaru was standing in the corner of the room, half in shadow, eyes contemplative as they took in the prone girl's form.

"I was certain she wouldn't survive the marking process." Orochimaru almost hissed into the quiet of the room. "She's more resilient than I gave her credit for."

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi drew a kunai. He knew he was no match for the rogue sannin, but he wouldn't let him get to Sakura _or_ Sasuke without going through him first.

"Simply observing, Kakashi." Orochimaru sounded almost genial as he stepped forward, eyes never leaving the pink of Sakura's hair. "It will be… interesting to see how the seal affects her, without the inner darkness that they tend to feed on. Of course, she wasn't my first choice, but I could make use of her."

Kakashi shifted to hide the girl from the man's view. "You'll have to go through me first." He growled, crouching into a defensive stance.

"Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi…" Orochimaru tutted. "How… utterly uncivil of you. I intend to do nothing but observe." He shrugged fluidly. "For now."

He laughed, and was gone in a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi didn't wait. He scooped the girl up, making sure the blanket protected her modesty, and made straight for the infirmary.

* * *

Sasuke was having his leg wound sewn up when Kakashi shouldered the door open, a limp Sakura in his arms. His eyes followed them as their teacher conferred with the head medic, who nodded and ushered him into a back room. When Kakashi returned, sans Sakura, he noticed Sasuke sitting on one of the examination tables and sauntered over.

"Yo." He gave a small wave. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Sasuke eyed the door, but didn't ask.

"She's alright." Kakashi leaned against the wall next to his bed. "We're just waiting for an escort to take her to the hospital."

"And the mark?" Sasuke asked as the medic finished sewing him up and excused herself.

"All sealed." Kakashi moved to sit next to him on the table. "You're incredibly lucky, Sasuke. I don't think I need to tell you how much. If Sakura hadn't taken that mark for you, you could very well have died."

"It was stupid of her." Sasuke argued, looking down at his clenching fists on his knees.

"Well, that's what happens when people love you." Kakashi reached over and ruffled his hair, ignoring Sasuke's venomous glare. He withdrew his hand when Sasuke took a swipe. "They do stupid things to keep you safe."

Sasuke ignored his teacher's words, instead working on loosening his fists one finger at a time. It wasn't that he was unaware of Sakura's crush on him; he just didn't have _time_ for it. She had, somehow, become a friend, someone that he trusted despite everything, but he just couldn't allow himself to get too close to _anyone_ with his goal unfulfilled. To invite bonds was to invite weakness. It made him forget his mission, his hatred for his brother. He'd first recognised it after the mission to Wave country, bickering with Naruto all the way home and _enjoying it_. It wasn't until he'd tucked himself into bed the night they'd returned that he'd realised that he'd not once thought of his family and their murderer since his near-death experience, and resolved never to allow it to happen again.

Getting attached was dangerous.

"Does Naruto know what happened?" Kakashi asked.

"No." He heard himself say. "Sakura didn't want to tell him about the mark."

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked archly. "Well, if that's what she wants then I see no need to tell him. As long as she keeps it under control it won't be a problem." He lowered his voice. "I don't think I need to tell you how dangerous Orochimaru is. It would be better if his presence wasn't made known; people would panic. The Hokage wants to avoid that at all costs."

"I know." The Hokage had stressed the need for discretion at the end of their interview. Sasuke would be protected, the Sandaime promised. ANBU were hunting Orochimaru down as they spoke.

"Come on, then." Kakashi slipped off the table onto his feet. "Let's go and find Naruto and break the news that Sakura is dropping out of the exam."

"She is?" Sasuke's eyebrows rose. "So we'll be disqualified."

"No." Kakashi shook his head. "It's all single combat from here on out. The teamwork portion of the exam is over."

Sasuke smirked in satisfaction. Finally, he'd really be able to test himself without having to rely on others. This was what he'd been waiting for since the day they were put in their squads.

* * *

"What?!" Naruto was aghast when Kakashi broke the news. "But why's she dropping out?!"

"She's injured, Naruto." Kakashi explained casually, nose in his little orange book as Sasuke ate beside him. Naruto was shocked that Sasuke could be so composed in the face of this. Sure, Kakashi had told him that they were all on their own from here on out, but Sakura was still their _teammate_. If she was injured badly enough to quit the exam, they should be worried, damnit! "The hospital is the best place for her right now."

"I wanna go see her!" Naruto demanded, slamming his hands down on either side of his dish. Sasuke sneered and snatched his plate up before it rattled off the edge.

Kakashi merely lowered his book a fraction and met Naruto's eyes. "So you want to quit, too?"

"What? No!"

Their teacher shrugged and buried his nose in his porn again. "The only way you can leave this tower before the second exam is over is if you're dropping out. You'll just have to wait."

"But—"

"She's in the _hospital_." Sasuke said caustically. "She needs _rest_ , not to deal with your dumbassery."

"Hey!"

"Boys." Kakashi sighed, lowering his book fully. " _Behave_." Sasuke glared at Naruto. Naruto crossed his arms, defiantly returning the expression. "I mean it." Kakashi held his book between them, forcing them to break their gaze and look to him. "You're supposed to be shinobi. _Professionals_. If you can't manage to be civil to each other for a single day, then I made a mistake in entering you into the exams."

"I'm professional!" Naruto complained. "I'm _so_ professional! But Sasuke is always picking fights with me—"

" _Me_?" Sasuke snarled. " _You're_ the idiot who keeps running his mouth and pissing me off!"

"Says the guy whose _ass I saved_!"

"You mean the guy whose unconscious ass I dragged halfway across the forest while he slept through _two_ _fights_!"

"Enough." Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, you've finished your food. Take a walk. Just don't leave the tower."

Naruto was furious. Sasuke's eyes had lowered to his plate again, chopsticks sullenly poking at his meal in silence, teeth clenched and face thunderous.

"Fine." Naruto snapped, pushing away from the table. "I'm going to get some _sleep_. Since _some_ asshole insisted on waking us all up in the middle of the night."

"We could have left you." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah and then you would have failed, so hah!" Naruto blew a raspberry.

Sasuke snorted. "It would have been worth it." He said bitterly, shoving a piece of fish into his mouth and glaring at his food savagely.

Naruto heard Kakashi sigh as he turned and stalked away. "I don't know how Sakura survived being alone with the two of you." He said to Sasuke.

If Sasuke replied, Naruto didn't hear it. He shoved the door open and nearly collided with Shino, who was passing with his team.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped, face bright red. "You guys p-passed!"

Naruto closed the door. "Hell yeah, we did!" He preened. "When did you guys get here?"

"First day." Kiba preened. "What took you guys so long?"

Naruto frowned. "I dunno, man. Some _weird_ shit happened in that forest, and Sasuke and Sakura won't tell me anything…"

* * *

Sasuke stood with Naruto the next afternoon, listening to the Hokage's speech about the purpose of the chūnin exams. The other teams kept looking at the two of them; there was some muttering about their missing teammate.

"As there are more participants than anticipated," Hayate, the proctor for the third exam, coughed, "we will be holding preliminary matches to see who goes into the final round. Anyone who doesn't feel up to fighting is free to retire now. Your withdrawal will not affect your teammates."

"I'll drop out." A man raised his hand. Sasuke recognised him as Kabuto, the guy with the cards prior to the first exam. The older boy caught his eye as Sasuke watched him leave and smiled. Sasuke forced his attention to the front.

"No more?" Hayate coughed again. "Very well. As we have an additional examinee forced to retire due to injury, we have an uneven number of participants. Therefore, one of you will get a bye and proceed straight to the preliminaries." There was an explosion of chatter. "If everyone would move to the stands at the top of the stairs, we will begin immediately."

"But some of us are still tired and injured!" Ino complained. "You can't expect us to fight like this!"

Hayate coughed again. "Those who passed the second exam early have an advantage, it's true." He allowed. "However, that is their reward for being more efficient in their task. You will fight as you are."

There was muttering as they ascended the stairs with their jōnin senseis. Kakashi took his place between Naruto and Sasuke, watching as a large screen descended at the back of the room. Sasuke and Naruto studiously ignored each other; Sasuke secretly hoped that Naruto would be his opponent. After what he'd seen Naruto do in the forest when they were cornered by Orochimaru, Sasuke had found himself wanting to fight Naruto in an all-out, no holds barred fight. He wanted to see what Naruto was _really_ capable of. And to see if he could beat him in a _real_ match, rather than a sparring exercise.

"This screen will display the matchups." Hayate pointed to it. "We will begin now."

Characters flashed across the screen at lightning speed. Sasuke watched with bated breath, hating to wait. He wanted to fight. He was itching to go.

The characters stopped. Two names were displayed on screen.

_Temari vs. Chōji Akimichi_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, because Sakura is now out of the running, the prelim matchups are going to be different. We won't see all of them in detail, but the next chapter will cover most, if not all, the matches.
> 
> As always, we appreciate your feedback.


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